MBA Education & Careers

LEARNING CORNER DEFENCEDEFENCE FORCESFORCES OFOF INDIAINDIA (PART - III)

In the third and last part of our series on the Defence Forces of India, we present a roundup of the missile armoury available in our country.

n 1983, India launched the Integrated Guided more sophisticated version of -II. The Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) to Agni-II is designed to be launched from a develop and produce a variety of missiles. rail-mobile launcher that can move on a standard I broad-gauge rail system. On the other hand, the The missiles would cater to the need of surface- to-air and surface-to-surface roles. While the technology test-beds (TTDs) have been designed Defence Research and Development as a road-mobile system. There are advantages and disadvantages of this change. A rail- and / or Organisation (DRDO) overseas the development road-based missile system reduces vulnerability of , , , , and missile and allows for greater operational flexibility, while systems, the Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) critics feel that the cost of these mobile systems produces the Agni series. could be higher and that they greatly increase the time for moving from one place to another. Agni Considering that except in some parts - for Agni means fire. The Agni family of strategic instance, India’s north-eastern region - road ballistic missiles is the backbone of the Indian infrastructure is available wherever rail tracks are missile-based nuclear deterrence. The following available, the decision to become rail-mobile could are the variants of the Agni missile: mean, in strategic terms, that deployment in India’s north-eastern region is to be considered a serious possibility. Since Agni-II is road and rail mobile, it • Agni-TD / TTB (Technology Demonstrator / lends flexibility and reduces vulnerability to strikes. Technology Test Bed) Akash • Agni-I is a SRBM (850 km range, 1000 kg payload) Akash meaning sky, is a medium-range, theatre defence, surface-to-air missile (SAM). It operates • Agni-II is an IRBM (3300 km range, 1000 kg in conjunction with the Rajendra surveillance & payload) engagement radar. The Akash uses an integral ramjet rocket propulsion system to give a • Agni-IIAT is a IRBM (3900 km range, 1000 kg low-volume, low-weight (700 kg launch weight) payload) missile configuration, and has a low reaction time - from detection to missile launch - of 15 seconds. • Agni-III is a IRBM (5500 km range, 1200 kg This allows the missile to carry a heavier warhead payload) (60 kg). Akash has a range of 27 km, with an effective ceiling of 15 km. It is capable of detecting The last two are in the development stage. As of and destroying aircraft flying at tree-top height. now, Agni-I can reach the whole of Pakistan. To Current research focusses on ways to increase meet the Chinese threat, India is developing the speed, maximum altitude and range to 60 km.

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Astra regard the Prithvi as among the most modern short-ranged battlefield missiles in the world. The Astra is a state-of-the-art Beyond Visual Range Prithvi missile comes in four variants: Air to Air Missile (BVRAAM) designed for a range of over 80 km in head-on mode and 20 km in • SS-150 / Prithvi-I is a battlefield support tail-chase mode. It can engage highly system for the army (range 150 km, 1000 kg manoeuvring targets. The goal of this programme payload). It is a single stage, dual engine, is to provide the Indian Air Force (IAF) with an liquid fuel, road-mobile, short-range surface- indigenously-designed BVRAAM to equip the to-surface missile IAF’s Mirage 2000, MiG-29, Su-30MKI and the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). In June 2004, a • SS-250 / Prithvi-II is dedicated to the Indian Rs 1000-crore national project to develop a Air Force (range 250 km, 500 - 750 kg payload). futuristic BVRAM missile ‘Astra’ was launched It is a single stage, dual engine, liquid fuel, for delivery by 2009. The missile is expected to road-mobile, short-range surface-to-surface be at the high-end of tactical missiles, and propel missile. India into the exclusive club of countries to possess such missiles. The US has a similar • SS-350 / Prithvi-III is a solid fuelled version missile but heavier, while Israel also has a BVR with a 350 km range and a 1000 kg payload. It is missile, but the range is comparatively shorter. a two stage, solid fuel, road-mobile, The Mirage 2000H has been designated as the short-range, surface-to-surface missile. first potential platform for the Astra when the and Prithvi-III are two different weapon enters service at the end of this decade. acronyms for the same missile. The Government has launched a related programme known as BrahMos Project K-15 that would enable the missile to be launched from a submerged submarine. BrahMos, the world’s fastest anti-ship missile, is the result of a Indo-Russia joint venture in missile • meaning bow, is a system development. It is a Supersonic consisting of a stabilisation platform (Bow) that can be launched from submarine, ship, aircraft and the Missile (Arrow). The system can fire and land-based Mobile Autonomous Launchers either the SS-250 or the SS-350 variants. (MAL). The missile is launched from a Transport-Launch Canister (TLC), which also Project Devil and Project Valiant laid the acts as storage and transportation container. foundation for the development of Prithvi. Prithvi Primarily BrahMos is an anti-ship missile. It has has been supplied to the Army to form the 333 the capability to engage land-based targets also. Missile Group based in Secunderabad. Since The missile can be launched either in vertical or then, two additional units have been formed the inclined position and can cover 360 degrees. The 444 Missile Group and 555 Missile Group. BrahMos missile has identical configuration for land, sea and sub sea platforms. The air-launched Nag version has a smaller booster and additional tail fins for stability during launch. Nag (Cobra) is a third generation, all weather, top-attack, fire-and-forget anti-tank guided Prithvi missile. The missile uses a tandem HEAT (High Explosive Anti Tank) warhead to penetrate ERA Prithvi meaning Earth, is named so as it is a (Explosive Reactive Armour) or composite surface-to-surface missile (SSM). Defence experts (Chobham type) armour that is found in the latest

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tanks. The system is expected to supercede Indian had been intended to be a multi-service design. production of the Soviet origin 9K113 Konkours The Indian Air Force, which had intended to and Euromissile Milan M2 anti-tank missiles.The adopt the Trishul for an airfield-defence role, Nag is claimed to be first anti-tank missile which recently turned against the project. The Army has has a complete fiberglass structure. also stated that the Trishul was unlikely to meet its requirements for a replacement for the Russian- Trishul designed OSA-AKM (SA-8b Gecko) Trishul meaning Trident, is a short range, quick self-propelled SAM system. The Indian Navy had reaction, all weather surface-to-air missile (SAM) designed recent warships to include the Trishul designed to counter a low-level attack. It has been as their armament, so the decision not to make flight tested in the sea-skimming role and also the system operational is likely to require against moving targets. It has a range of 9 km and selection of an alternative system and is fitted with a 5.5 kg HE-fragmented warhead. modification of the warships that were to use the The missile can engage targets like aircraft and Trishul missile. This led to an expansion of the helicopters, flying between 300 m/s and 500 m/s Indian procurement of the Israeli-built Barak SAM by using its radar command-to-line-of-sight system, of which seven systems have already guidance. It operates in the K-band (20 - 40 GHz), been ordered, with a plan for procuring another which makes it difficult to jam. The Trishul missile 10 systems.

Do You Know? Development Indicators 2005

With 1.9 billion people East Asia and the Pacifi c is the largest of the World Bank’s six developing regions and the fastest growing region in the world. Between 2002 and 2003, regional GDP grew by 8.1 percent, compared to an average of 7.6 percent for 1990-2003. Strong economic growth has lowered poverty rates faster than anywhere else in the world. Social indicators remain a matter of concern. The under-5 mortality rate has fallen from 59 per 1,000 in 1990 to 41 in 2003, but at this rate of progress the region will fall short of achieving a two-thirds reduction by 2015. And the region lags in infrastructure. At present only 78 percent of its population receives water from an improved source, 49 percent has access to improved sanitation facilities, and approximately a quarter of its roads are paved. But the region leads all developing country regions in high-technology exports, which are 33 percent of manufactured exports.

South Asia has the second lowest GNI per capita ($510) and some of the highest levels of child malnutrition in the world, with 48 percent of children below the standards for weight by age. It has the highest rate of youth illiteracy–23 percent for males and 38 percent for females–and, at 35 percent, the lowest rate of access to sanitation facilities. The economy, which grew by 5.4 percent a year between 1990-2003, due in large part to growth in India, depends more heavily on agriculture than any other region. With only about 7 personal computers per 1,000 people, South Asia lags behind other regions in access to information and communications technology. Source: www.worldbank.org

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